GaAs 16×16 MESFET crosspoint switch at 1700 Mbits/sec

A fully integrated 3×4mm GaAs MESFET 16×16 crosspoint switch using 800mW of power has been fabricated and has demonstrated a 99% confidence BER better than 10-13$/ at 1.7 Gbits/sec. A typical figure of merit for this device is 34 when defined as total: Throughput/Power [Gbit/Watt-sec]. This outstanding performance represents the feasibility of using MESFET's for large scale integrated circuit design where Gigabit data rates are required.